Bolen Reiterates Need For Multi-Year Reauthorization Bill; Boyer Notes Short-Term 'Victory' Over User Fees

Congress on Tuesday sent a bill to President Bush that will continue to fund the Federal Aviation Administration until March 31, 2009... and while that extension falls far short of the need to authorize the money the FAA says it needs to implement its oft-touted NextGen modernization plan, AOPA President Phil Boyer chose to focus on the positive.

"That means we can declare victory in the battle against user fees, at least in 2008," said Boyer, who will retire from his long tenure as president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association at the end of this year.

As ANN reported, on Tuesday Congress approved the extension legislation, HR 6984. The extension, which funds the FAA through March 31, 2009, will now be sent the President for his signature. The previous extension was set to expire on September 30.

An FAA reauthorization bill passed last year by the House -- and presumably still under some form of consideration by the Senate, more on that in a minute -- includes an adjustment to the general aviation fuel tax to provide additional funding each year for continued transformation toward a "NextGen" satellite-based aviation system.

The legislative burden to pass the funding plan rests with the Senate, which sent its version of the FAA bill to the floor for consideration in late April 2008. Debate on S.1300 came to a screeching halt soon thereafter, however, after lawmakers clashed over an amendment setting stricter rules for airline contributions to their employee pension funds.

When debate to end that loophole was dropped, attention turned to a slew of unrelated riders lawmakers attempted to attach to the bill, including a call to boost highway spending. The resulting squabbling over such unrelated add-ons effectively killed the measure... and to date, proponents have failed to rally the 60 votes needed to send it forward as-is.

With the latest extension of the FAA funding bill set to expire at the end of September, with the Congress wrangling over a $700 billion bailout bill for US financial institutions, and with legislators wanting to get out of town to campaign... Congress decided the FAA funding issue could wait until next year, Boyer added.

That may be entirely true and reasonable, especially given the current turmoil tied to the bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the likes of AIG... but Ed Bolen, president of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) urged Congress to use the time provided by a new extension of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding to complete work on FAA reauthorization as soon as possible.

"NBAA applauds Congress for the progress already made on FAA reauthorization, and this funding extension is important for allowing airport projects and other FAA programming to continue," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. "At the same time, we think it's also important for Congress to send to the President, as soon as possible, a completed reauthorization package that provides long-term stability and builds on the work already being done to modernize America's aviation system."

FMI: www.aopa.org, www.nbaa.org, www.house.gov, www.faa.gov